Opec chief expects comfortable year

London, November 13, 2012

Opec's secretary general said he was not worried about the oil market outlook for 2013, as the exporter group pumps a million barrels per day (bpd) more than its official output target without weakening prices.

"I am not really worried. I'm looking forward to 2013. It will be, I hope, a comfortable year for Opec and for the oil price," Abdullah al-Badri said in an interview on Tuesday.

The comments indicate the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which meets in Vienna next month, is unlikely to make big changes to its output policy. Badri himself would not be drawn on what Opec would decide.

Opec is pumping 1 million bpd more than its output ceiling of 30 million bpd, he said, and according to the organization's forecasts, demand for Opec oil will decline in 2013 as non-member countries expand supply.

Badri said there was a surplus in the market but he was not concerned by it.

"There is some oversupply, maybe 500,000 to 600,000 (barrels per day), but I don't think it will be a problem. If you look at the market situation, we are producing 31 million barrels per day, 1 million above our agreed level, but the market is still $110 a barrel."

Current prices pose no downside risk for world growth, he said on the sidelines of the Oil & Money conference in London, an annual gathering of top industry executives.

"This price has been with us now for almost a year. I don't think it poses, at this time, any economic problems." - Reuters